East Meets West in the Enchanted Forest
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(regular)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
This is one of several caches to highlight the Clearwater East-West Trail, which is open to non-motorized traffic only. East Meets West in the Enchanted Forest is a less than 4 miles round-trip on a portion of Clearwater’s East-West Bike Trail and part of Safety Harbor’s Bayshore Trail. Other East Meets West caches will follow.
E. Draco and W. Draco, fraternal dragon twins, have been best friends all their lives. However, as they have gotten older, they seem to have a strange affect on each other… they make each other sick! Although some may think this is the usual sibling rivalry, Yuzawa Kat figured out the illness they suffer from is the dreaded Dragon Motion Sickness. Unfortunately, E. Draco only gets the symptoms when moving even slightly west, while W. Draco only gets the symptoms when moving even slightly east. Quite literally, they can’t take each other anywhere!
Both of the Draco Twins have always wanted to see the whole wide world. Sadly, now they realize they can’t travel together. As fun loving as they are, they decided to RACE around the world. Starting at the East Meets West in the Enchanted Forest cache, their individual races around the world have now begun. Since this starting point is such a special place, the Draco Twins don’t want everyone to know where it is. However, if you don’t mind a little homework and a little exercise, we will show you the Draco Twins’ hidey-hole, which contains an Ammo Box with many items from the East and from the West, as well as a very useful First Finder’s gift.
Part I – Salute to Veterans. Yuzawa Kat asked her father, Charles, and her husband, Dennis (Burgi Dad), to give GeoCachers directions to the Draco Twins’ starting point. After several days of waiting in the sun and rain for people to come, Charles and Dennis decided to just leave clues. Find the two side-by-side bricks with Charles’ and Dennis’ names on them at the given coordinates. Charles says the month he started in the service is digit *A* of the final coordinates. The month he ended his years in service is digit *B*. As a CPA, he’s got those digits written down somewhere in his ledger.
Dennis says there is another clue at a sign just over a mile away. The longitude of the sign is W 082 41.858. To get the latitude, take the number of months Dennis served in Vietnam, add 900 and divide by 1000. Subtract this from the current latitude.
(#months + 900) divided by 1000 = .NNN
New latitude = 27 59.331 - .NNN = 27 5_._ _ _
Part II – Signs Along the Trail. Given the new coordinates, you may now hike, bike or skate to the next stopping point. Enjoy the journey! You will see where the Draco Twins used to take showers, leave their old toys, and fly-fish, either in the old bay or an alligator lake. Their form of fly-fishing is not the same as ours, though! You may see osprey fishing the same way the Draco Twins do!
When you reach the next coordinates, you will find a sign showing the entire map for the Clearwater East-West Trail. On the sign, it gives a phone number where to call with any trail problems. It also says the length of the entire trail. Yuzawa Kat found these numbers to be very useful when she helped the Draco Twins.
Part III – Come and Rest a Spell. Follow the map directions to point J on the Clearwater East-West Trail. Again, enjoy the journey. Burgi Dad says you may take a moment to relax there, use the restrooms, whatever. Any kids with you can play at the playground for a bit. The Draco Twins used to play here, too, but only while human parents weren’t around.
Once you’ve rested and are ready to move on, head towards the tallest thing at this park. Count the number of support legs, not the center. Is it the same number as the last digit of the Radio # on the nearby sign on the fence? If yes, then you are at the right place to get the rest of the digits necessary for the final coordinates. What is the Water Division’s phone number? Better get the extension, also. Now, let’s start plugging the coordinates all together:
Water Division’s phone #: (7 2 7) 5 C D – 4 9 E 0 ext 7 F G H
Final Coordinates: North G H B 8 . D C 3, West 082 A F . 3 3 E
When Yuzawa Kat and Burgi Dad said Bon Voyage to the Draco Twins, they did NOT need to bushwhack at all, and neither should you. The coordinates lead you as the crow flies but the Crow doesn’t know about the Clearwater East West Trail, like you now do! You do not need to leave the trail until you are within 100 feet or less of the hidey-hole. BE DISCREET - you can see people on the trail from the cache site, and they can probably see you... Look for signs of dragon breath!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Puneyrf’ ynfg anzr vf Urvz. Nf lbh onpxgenpx, orsber lbh pebff gur ehfgl oevqtr, urnq fbhgu. Gnxr gur jngre ebhgr be gur ynaq ebhgr, lbhe pubvpr, ohg Ohetv Qnq fhttrfgf gur ynaq. Rnfg bs gur ynetr gerr jvgu, fgenatryl, abguvat zhpu tebjvat nebhaq vgf gehax, vf gur Qenpb Gjvaf’ uvqrl-ubyr.